The best intersectionThe use of roundabouts is on the rise with many U.S. cities choosing to replace traditional intersections with roundabouts. Why would they do this? Because most crashes occur at intersections. Roundabouts remove the two most hazardous types of collisions; the head-on and the T-bone. In every new installation of a roundabout, accidents have been markedly reduced and since any crashes that occur are glancing blows, the number of injuries and amo...

More college degrees vs. just more studentsArkansas has the nation’s second lowest percentage of adults ages 25 to 64 with college degrees, its 19 percent beating only West Virginia. And while college is not for everyone and there are lots of honorable ways to make a decent living, statistically, the average person with a college degree makes more money than the average person without one. How can Arkansas move up the ranks? A seemingly obvious solution is enrolling more students in co...

What would Paul recognize?If the apostle Paul visited the church today what would he recognize? He would not recognize the English language, the various translations of the Bible we use, church buildings, bottled grape juice, the store-bought unleavened bread, the song books or the songs that are in them. He would not recognize the checks or currency we give nor would he be familiar with the methods of evangelism we sometimes use such as radio, television and the inter...

A call to persevereRecent studies reveal two disturbing American trends: A reduction in church attendance and a shift from smaller congregations to their larger counterpart. This problem is compounded by persons who readily shift from one congregation to another. Resulting in painful separation, and lingering consternation. Not that this is an altogether new development. In this regard. “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but...

Most of us are slow learnersThere is an old joke most educators have heard about Johnny bringing home a lot of homework. One evening after school, a neighbor girl was over visiting one of his siblings and she observed all the papers he was reading. When she learned that it was homework she said, “Why don’t they put him in the slow group?” To be honest, I have been in the slow group for most of my life and, after reading something my friend J.L. Abbott sent me a while bac...

Public notices have to be credibleA series of bills was filed in the Arkansas legislature that have the potential to create a layer of government secrecy the likes of which we have not seen since the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) became law in the mid-1960s. The bills, filed by Rep. Kim Hammer (R-Benton), would remove publication of public notices from Arkansas newspapers and allow them to be “published” on a government website operated by the Secretary of State. Proponent...

Constable’s case shows failure of systemA Phillips County man apparently is far ahead of even Arkansas lawmakers in the arms race, and he’s in trouble with the law — so much so that new legislation probably wouldn’t help him. James Weldon King, 50, of Helena-West Helena is accused of keeping more than 30 firearms inside his home, including a loaded pistol just inside the door, two loaded AK-47 assault rifles, handguns and long guns, and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Outside the...

Republicans needed better communication”First you win the argument -- then you win the vote,” is the now well-known quote from Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. President Ronald Reagan was the last Republican president who understood and used that strategy. President Barack Obama and his team also understand the phrase and are using it to their advantage. They are making a full-court press in the public arena to lay out their argument against sequestration and for more taxes. ”In a...

Why I signed Act 145Last Friday, while serving as Acting Governor in Gov. Beebe’s absence from the state, I signed Senate Bill 131 into law. It is now Act 145. The stated purpose of this law is to protect the privacy of Arkansans who have a concealed carry license, or who have applied for one. Specifically, it exempts these citizens’ names and zip codes from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. I am a strong believer in our Second Amendment rights as ...

Partisan prosecutorsSome elected positions clearly are partisan in nature. Most voters find party labels helpful — at least to some extent — when choosing candidates for the legislative or executive branch. However, the same logic does not apply to members of the judicial branch, which is supposed to be neutral in its administration of justice. A little over a decade ago, Arkansas voters agreed and passed Amendment 80, which removed the election of judges from th...

Analysis: The ’fever’ that Obama has not broken WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama promised this time would be different, that if he won re-election, a Republican “fever” would break and legislative gridlock would ease. Yet just over a month into his second term, Washington is once again mired in a partisan budget battle. And rather than figuring out a way to work with Republicans, Obama is largely ignoring them, trying instead to build public support for his approach to averting auto...

Congress should just stay homeWith $1.2 trillion in spending cuts over a decade due to start taking effect March 1, members of Congress have been in recess. Naturally, the state Democratic Party held a press event criticizing Republicans for not staying in Washington to stop those cuts from happening. Actually, maybe it would be best if Congress just stayed home for a while. This crisis of March 1 has been a long time coming. Back in 2011 when Congress and the president co...

Democracy, dialogue, and community actionA recent book published by the University of Arkansas Press, “Democracy, Dialogue, and Community Action: Truth and Reconciliation in Greensboro” follows the work of the Greensboro, North Carolina Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a citizen-led initiative exploring the events of November 1979 when five Greensboro protesters were shot and killed by the Ku Klux Klan and the American Nazi Party during a local march. The march was organized by t...

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Meredith Martin-MoatsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Pancakes, zoning and coaching kidsScatter shooting while wondering whatever happened to Steve Clark. Pancakes Friday’s pancakes and sausage breakfast at the American Legion Hut was pretty damn good. It was an all-you-can-eat affair to raise money for the American Legion baseball program, but I only had three cakes and three sausage patties. I consider pancakes to be holy food, almost manna from Heaven, so you understand how good I felt when I finished. At about 7:45 a.m. the o...

I vowed I would never be ‘too old’ for my kidsMy dad was Airborne, jumped at D-Day, Market Garden, was in the Battle of the Bulge and the Hertzgen Forest. After the war, he was an investigator at the Nuremberg Trials (Heinrich Himmler was his target), and then, an agent in Berlin for 20 years. Tough guy for a kid, but he was my dad. I was born in Berlin, I was 6 when the wall went up – most people only know the place because of when the wall went down. I was 8 years old, and my dad and I ...

What will your legacy be?The word legacy is an interesting one on the English language. It means, according to the dictionary, “1: Money or property left to you by a will; bequeath. 2. Something handed down from, or as from, an ancestor to a descendant.” I might add this “something” can include a wide range of things in addition to money or property. The list could include our accomplishments, honors, a foundation, trust or other means to carry on our good name to be ...

Lessons from the courtThe modern world of college and professional athletics is often known more for its excesses than its moderation. Athletes and coaches are viewed as celebrities who receive millions of dollars for their talents. More than a few are characterized by their hot tempers, immoral lifestyles, outlandish comments and illegal conduct. John Wooden, former basketball coach at UCLA, was the antithesis of many of today’s coaches. Coach Wooden’s life and ca...

Stronger, weaker brothersRomans chapter 12 through chapter 15 tells man how to be godly and righteous in every conceivable relationship he could ever possibly have. Romans 12 begins by laying down the foundational relationship upon which every other human relationship rests, the relationship with the Creator. Next the Holy Spirit told us how to properly relate to other believers. Then He turned His attention to how we relate to society including our enemies. Chapter 1...

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Pastor Steve EllisonThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Calm down on voter ID debateOne of the issues being hotly debated by the state Legislature this year is a new law requiring voters to show photo identification to cast their ballot. The proposal has brought out passionate arguments from those for and against, although it is difficult to understand why it rose to be such a hot-button issue. The proposed law — Senate Bill 2 — is sponsored by Republican Sen. Bryan King of Green Forrest. King has proposed similar bills in pr...

Mental healthIn today’s article, I want to discuss mental health and the stigma sometimes associated with it as well as some specific disorders. Unlike the more conventional medical problems like strokes, flu or kidney stones, mental health issues are not as readily accepted by the general public. This perception has improved over the years with more public figures talking about issues such as depression but there is still a lot to be done to build an acce...